2015-16 Race Partner Destination and Tourism Activation Highlights

163,000 visitors create positive economic impact

In what proved to be a record-breaking year for footfall at the Foyle
Maritime Festival more than 163,000 visitors attended the Derry-Londonderry event.
The Clipper Race fleet may have been the focal point during the festival, which
was crowned Best Event/Festival Experience at the prestigious 2015 Northern
Ireland Tourism Awards following the previous stopover, but the city went much
further to showcase its assets to the global market in order to attract
investment and return visitors.

Combining the maritime festival with an artisan food fayre and Music City
weekend attracted visitors from a variety of backgrounds and multiple industries
as everyone came together to sample food and crafts from hundreds of stalls and
listen to live acts, while children were kept entertained in the Little Pirate zone.

Vietnamese city targets destination media in Sydney

Earlier in the race, Team Sponsor Da Nang - Viet Nam used the stopover in
Sydney as an opportunity to showcase the destination to its primary target
market, Australia, by delivering an interactive tourism seminar. The cultural
and destination exhibit attracted over 60 companies from the Australian travel
market, including travel writers and journalists from Tourism Australia,
FlightCentre, Travel Marketing and Luxury Travel.

Key delegates were also invited
to go sailing, enabling the officials from Da Nang to have critical 1:1 time to
cement relationships and develop guests understanding of Da Nang as a
destination further.

Qingdao showcases itself as the ‘Sailing City’ of China

The Qingdao stopover allowed the Chinese city to celebrate its 12 year
relationship with the Clipper Race whilst also promoting its Olympic heritage
and increasing awareness of the international facilities in ‘China’s Sailing
City’. Networking events were hosted for over 200 businesses during the
stopover alongside cultural and inspirational events for tourists.

Qingdao’s
Olympic legacy continues to thrive by inspiring their younger generations with
appearances from the
Qingdao
ambassador team, as well as the opportunity for over 900 children to get on
board the yachts and meet crew members.

Focus on community engagement in Seattle

During the 12 day stopover, Visit Seattle demonstrated that its city is
a thriving economic hub, major sporting destination and a stand out tourism
destination on the West Coast of the United States. The city used the stopover
to demonstrate to our international race crew the abundance of attractions it
has to offer to visitors of all tastes, including Pike Place Market, the Space
Needle, the Experience Music Project and the Gates Foundation.

Hosting the Clipper Race allowed the city to engage with both the
business and local communities by organising multiple events which included
representatives from the race speaking at some of its most prestigious venues
and business clubs, including the Rotary Club of Seattle. Visit Seattle also hosted
a Pro-Am Regatta to engage with business guests and future sponsors from the
city. They spent the afternoon racing alongside sporting professionals such as
former United States soccer team goalkeeper and ESPN analyst, Kasey Keller, whilst
learning the ropes from our Race Skippers and crew.

Community engagement played a central part in the Seattle stopover with
the local community joining Clipper Race crew members in a number of social
activities and tours provided by the Host Port. The reach extended well beyond
the immediate Seattle region with visitors travelling in from Florida,
California, Texas, Oregon and Canada to learn more about the city and the
Clipper Race.